By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, July 20 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice said on Monday it launched a probe reviewing whether some Harvard University financial aid programs were discriminatory, marking the latest fight against the university by President Donald Trump’s administration.
“The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced today it is opening a compliance review into Harvard University to determine whether its China-based financial aid programs and practices exclude American-citizen students,” the department said in a statement.
Harvard said on Monday it “does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin in allocating financial aid.”
A university spokesperson said the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Ivy League school was reviewing the DOJ’s latest letter to Harvard and would engage with the government on the topic.
U.S. law requires universities to report donations from foreign sources exceeding $250,000 in a year. Harvard has previously said it has filed reports for decades “as part of its ongoing compliance with the law.”
The school has also previously cast Trump administration probes as “retaliatory actions against Harvard for its refusal to surrender our independence and constitutional rights.”
A deal to resolve the Trump administration’s broader probes against Harvard remains elusive.
The Trump administration has targeted Harvard and other top universities with probes and federal funding suspension threats over a range of issues.
These include pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel’s assault on Gaza, diversity initiatives, transgender policies and climate programs. Rights advocates say the federal crackdown threatens free speech, due process and academic freedom rights.
In its latest probe, the Trump administration’s DOJ alleged Harvard appeared to be accepting funding from Chinese sources that restrict Harvard’s use of those funds.
“Harvard appears to be accepting these funds and, in adherence to their restrictions, providing student financial aid to foreign students, presumably Chinese, based on their national origin – to the potential detriment of students of other national origins, including American citizens,” the DOJ said.
Last month, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from implementing a plan to bar foreign nationals from entering the U.S. to study at Harvard.
China’s position is that “normal education and academic exchange should not be disrupted for political purposes,” the Chinese embassy in Washington said, adding education cooperation between the two countries was mutually beneficial.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese)
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